


(y)our cheeks are nice and rosy (comfy and cozy you are not)

by notveryglittery (darlingdany)



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Sickfic, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 13:38:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17245220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingdany/pseuds/notveryglittery
Summary: roman definitely isn't sick... but if he was, it's a good thing he's got two wonderful boyfriends to take care of him.





	(y)our cheeks are nice and rosy (comfy and cozy you are not)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quantumducky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantumducky/gifts), [alienjack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienjack/gifts).



> dedicated to the moceit and roceit to my royality, [nick](http://archiveofourown.org/users/quantumducky) and [jack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangepatrick) <3 
> 
> "sickness" prompt from [sanders sides celebrations](https://sanderssidescelebrations.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> warnings: willful ignoring of illness, fever, loss of time/awareness, sympathetic deceit

It was bound to happen but Roman had _really_ been hoping that it wouldn’t. Another cough surreptitiously turned into a clearing of his throat. The sniffles disregarded as allergies. The bags under his eyes from a night up late creating and not because he’d felt too nauseous to fall asleep. Roman wasn’t sick. He couldn’t _afford_ to be sick. It was the busiest season of the year — on top of the usual scripted and short videos, Thomas had parties to attend and relatives to visit and gifts to distribute. Roman didn’t have time to take a break. 

“Ro!” Patton’s voice called suddenly, “honey, it’s lunch time!” 

Roman looked helplessly over everything he still needed to accomplish.

“Do think about bailing,” followed Deceit, “the food looks terrible and we’d hate your company.”

Roman really didn’t want to turn down time spent with his boyfriends… and it had been so long since they’d last all sat together for a meal… and perhaps either of them might have suggestions for next week’s Shoutout Sunday… 

Pushing away from his desk (and the negative thoughts threatening to overwhelm him for leaving his work), Roman headed out of his room and down to the kitchen. On his way passed Virgil’s room, he found the door cracked open a bit and could hear Logan going on about something or other inside. Roman smiled despite himself; he was glad the pair had finally gotten around to talking out their feelings. 

“Hi, sweetheart!” Patton exclaimed the moment Roman arrived. He set a bowl of soup onto the table and then threw himself into Roman’s arms. 

Roman laughed, swinging Patton around a couple of times. He was dizzy by the time he let Patton down but he didn’t let the stop him from pressing a kiss to the top of Patton’s head. “Hello, dearest.” 

“Don’t mind me,” Deceit complained, “I’m not here at all.” 

“Oh!” Roman gasped, swooning dramatically toward Deceit, who barely caught him. “How dreadful it’d be if you truly were not! What would I do without my partner in crime?!” 

“Crime?” Patton repeated, hands on his hips. 

The pair glanced at each other as if silently communicating before, seemingly, coming to a conclusion. 

“In our quest,” Deceit began, letting go of Roman and cradling Patton in his arms for only a second before he dipped him. 

“To steal your heart!” Roman finished, taking one of Patton’s hands in his and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. 

Patton squealed, giggling in the face of such affection from his loved ones. 

After a few more minutes of silly tenderness, they sat down at the table to eat. Patton had made grilled cheese and tomato bisque. It was perfect for the chilly weather and while the sandwiches themselves made Roman a little queasy, he stomached the soup just fine. They talked about the movies they’d watched recently, or their last conversations with Thomas, or what else had been planned for the holidays. 

By the time they were finished, Deceit had convinced Patton to let them take care of the dishes since he had been the one to cook. Roman hadn’t minded in the least, his bad feelings cast aside thanks to his company. The work could wait awhile longer if it meant a few episodes of _The Dragon Prince_ while snuggled up with his significant others.

Unfortunately, it seemed his body disagreed. 

As soon as he stood, the room spun and he collapsed right back into his chair. He groaned, tilting his head back and squeezing his eyes shut. 

Twin noises of concern came from Patton and Deceit. 

Before Roman could insist he was fine — because of course he was, he didn’t get sick, much less when he was doing so much creating and at his finest, promise, honestly, he — the back of a hand pressed itself to his forehead. It pulled back just as quickly. 

“Roman!” Patton squeaked. “You’re burning up!” 

The next contact against his skin was much colder and he actually hissed in relief, leaning further into the touch. “Stay,” he moaned pitifully. 

Silence followed but Roman didn’t care. The hand on his forehead slid down to cup his cheek and another hand cradled the other just as carefully. Roman could focus only on the two points of chill. Why was he so hot? Was it because they’d just had such a warm lunch? Had someone turned the heater on too high? Perhaps he was wearing too many layers? 

“Help me with him, won’t you?” Patton’s voice filtered in through all of Roman’s confusion. 

“If I must,” came Deceit’s reply, though his voice was tight with worry. Why was he worried?

The cool hands holding his face so gently disappeared. He whined at the loss, eyelids fluttering open. Patton and Deceit were stood above him, slightly blurry… When had they moved him to the couch? He felt better already thanks to the horizontal position but he was hogging all the space — how could they cuddle if there wasn’t room for either of them to sit? He moved to remedy that but Patton pushed him back down, expression stern. 

“I don’t know how you let yourself get this bad,” he said and Roman wanted to flinch at his tone. Was he in trouble? “You have a fever, darling. How long have you felt like this?” 

Roman… wasn’t sure. A couple of days, maybe? It was hard to tell, given how the nights blurred into the mornings with how poorly he was sleeping. 

“ _Roman!_ ” Deceit scolded and oops, had Roman said that out loud? 

“Keep an eye on him,” Patton requested and Roman glanced to Deceit just in time to see the panic flash across his face. Patton, apparently, saw it too. His smile softened and he brushed a hand through Deceit’s bangs. “It’s okay, I know you’ll do just fine.” 

With that, Patton was gone. Roman tried sitting up again but Deceit caught him; instead of nudging him by his shoulder like Patton had though, he quite forcefully shoved him down by his forehead. While Roman might have complained, Deceit’s cool skin against his felt like instant relief. Latching onto Deceit’s wrist, Roman tugged him closer. 

Unprepared for such a move, Deceit stumbled to his knees, landing on the floor. “Rude,” he snapped, though the action of taking one of Roman’s hands and pressing it against his own neck contradicted it quite a bit. 

“Please don’t leave,” Roman begged, clinging to Deceit as if he were a lifeline. 

“It’s the very first thing on my mind, king bee,” Deceit mumbled, feeling heat rising in his own cheeks at Roman’s desperate voice. He combed his free hand through Roman’s hair while they waited quietly for Patton. 

By the time Patton returned, Roman had fallen asleep. His hand slipping from where it’d been draped loosely around Deceit’s neck had the latter briefly panicked before seeing that Roman’s breathing was even and slow, the tension in his expression smoothed away by the peace of unconsciousness. 

“He’ll work himself to death,” Patton murmured, frowning. He set a compress wrapped in a cloth on Roman’s forehead. “I let Virgil and Logan know to be quiet if they come downstairs.” 

Patton sat next to Deceit on the floor. He curled into his side and sighed. “I wish he’d let us take care of him…” 

Deceit hesitated. He looped an arm around Patton’s waist, pulling him closer. “He’s a terrible actor. It’s so easy to know when he is or isn’t pretending.” 

Patton hummed. After a moment, he perked up, looking determined. “We’ll just have to pay better attention to his shows! Get backstage passes!” 

Deceit laughed under his breath. “Hush, honey bunches of oats, before you wake him.” 

Patton gave him a delighted smile at the nickname. He pressed a kiss to the corner of Deceit’s mouth. “Okay, honeydee!” Patton whispered, drowning suddenly in how cute Deceit was when he blushed. 

They sat for awhile longer so Roman wouldn’t wake suddenly or alone. Eventually, they began taking turns in making sure the cold compress was occasionally refreshed. At some point, Patton returned with orange juice, crackers, and medicine. By the time Roman came to, it was about an hour later. He seemed confused which really wasn’t all that surprising given his temperature. 

“You are not leaving this couch,” was the first thing Patton said, “unless it’s to move to your bed.”

Roman responded with a noncommittal grunt, patting his hand around as if looking for something. 

“I want you to have some juice and crackers before taking this medicine, okay?” Patton asked. “We don’t need you stomach anymore upset.” 

“Hmm,” Roman answered, turning his half-aware gaze to Deceit. He narrowed his eyes. Emphatically gestured with his hand. Frowned. 

“Oh!” Deceit offered his own hand and when Roman laced their fingers together, the next noise from him was a pleased hum. A bit clumsily, he drew Deceit closer and kissed the top of his hand. It seemed that was most of the energy he had because he relaxed soon after.

Patton managed to get him half a glass and a couple of saltines before he took the medicine with some water. He seemed unhappy until Deceit began to sing _A Spoonful of Sugar_ very quietly. Patton watched them fondly before leaving to wash the dishes. Roman was asleep again when he returned. They decided to turn on _The Dragon Prince_ , playing old episodes on low volume. Patton twisted together very short little braids in Deceit’s hair in what was a bit of a tell in just how concerned he really was but Deceit didn’t say anything. It felt nice, anyway. 

When Roman would wake next, they’d talk to him about overworking and taking care of himself and being honest with the others if he ever needed help. They’d do it in a tangle of limbs and blankets, cuddled together, while Roman complained about his sore throat or his headache or being too warm. Most of these would be fixed right away by Deceit pressing chilly fingertips to any one of his aching spots. 

A couple of days later, Roman would find himself almost back to his best, but instead of locking himself in his room to keep working, he’d take it to the living room where he’d ask for assistance from any of the others. Patton would shower him with praise and kisses while Deceit would keep him entertained through even the most boring parts of his tasks. Virgil offered constructive criticism and Logan helped to make sure everything made sense (especially with Roman still recovering; he lost focus sometimes and his results ended up a bit messy). 

By the time Roman would be right as rain and twice as dandy, he knew he’d reconsider keeping any sort of illness a secret from those he cherished most.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at [notveryglittery](https://notveryglittery.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
